I am racing my first full this year (IMFL) and would like to get in one 100 mile training ride with somewhat similar terrain. My husband and I are thinking of driving towards the coast to do a long ride there. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go, and what routes are safe to drive with the bike, preferably with a convenience store along the way to buy more water?
An option would be to go to White Lake and ride the HIM course 2x, (we would drop water before the ride along the course). But I am not crazy about doing that.
We are 20 minutes north of Charlotte and don't mind driving 3-4 hours to get to wherever we need to.
Any suggestions?

I am racing my first full this year (IMFL) and would like to get in one 100 mile training ride with somewhat similar terrain. My husband and I are thinking of driving towards the coast to do a long ride there. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go, and what routes are safe to drive with the bike, preferably with a convenience store along the way to buy more water?
An option would be to go to White Lake and ride the HIM course 2x, (we would drop water before the ride along the course). But I am not crazy about doing that.
We are 20 minutes north of Charlotte and don't mind driving 3-4 hours to get to wherever we need to.
Any suggestions?

Is Highway 74 East an option? I used to live in Matthews, and remember 74 as nice rolling terrain, which would be similar to IMFL. 50 out, 50 back. It's 4-lane, and I thought 55mph max, but that was way back when.

I live just outside Mint Hill, and see you're in Kannapolis. Don't know how close you're to Hwy601,but I've ridden it a lot and it has a really wide (5-6') shoulder that's like a bike lane. also hwy 24/27 between Charlotte, Midland and Albemarle is the same with lots of rollers and some long flats. I usually do my long ride early in the morning on Saturday or Sunday. Both routes have plenty of stores along the way for "Special Needs" Hope this helps

I am racing my first full this year (IMFL) and would like to get in one 100 mile training ride with somewhat similar terrain. My husband and I are thinking of driving towards the coast to do a long ride there. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go, and what routes are safe to drive with the bike, preferably with a convenience store along the way to buy more water?
An option would be to go to White Lake and ride the HIM course 2x, (we would drop water before the ride along the course). But I am not crazy about doing that.
We are 20 minutes north of Charlotte and don't mind driving 3-4 hours to get to wherever we need to.
Any suggestions?

You could probably piece together the White Lake route and parts of the B2B course and come up with something that would suit your needs.

I wouldn't waste anytime driving to go for a flat training ride. Your time is precious and driving that far is silly (IMHO). I also live in CLT and at no time do I wish I had more training time on a flat road for IMFL.

Now if you want to do a race or something, OBX half is a good alternative as it is bay swim, flat windy bike, flat run.

PS - IMFL is not flat like White Lake. There are plenty of small rollers in the middle 50 miles. It is NOT 112 miles of pancake flat roads. Overall flat yes, pancake flat, no.

Thanks everyone. I was not even thinking of 601 or 24/27. Also Bgraboski, you have a good point. We really do not have the extra time to drive to/from a place. We have better ways to spend the time than sitting in a car.

Thanks everyone. I was not even thinking of 601 or 24/27. Also Bgraboski, you have a good point. We really do not have the extra time to drive to/from a place. We have better ways to spend the time than sitting in a car.

Ditto to bgraboski's suggestions. I would not waste the time. Also if your local area is hilly and/or rolling, I don't see training there as being detrimental to training for a 'flatter' race course either.